105
TOM HOPKINS
THE WATER (...IN ADVANCE OF...)
oil on canvas
signed; also signed, titled and dated 2002 on the reverse
43.75 ins x 46 ins; 111.1 cms x 116.8 cms
Estimate $5,000-$7,000
Realised: $12,980
Price Includes Buyer's Premium
About artist/note:
“For me, tension is the basis for all life. Certainly tension between two or three colours in a painting is what makes the painting vibrant, all contrasts – warm/cool, broad areas against detail, organic against mechanical. And of course, in many of my paintings I am interested in the wild versus the tame, water in nature against water imprisoned ‘civilized’ in a bowl or container.”
In The Water (…In Advance of…), Hopkins creates a narrative of contrast and tension. The backdrop for the scene is a reflective waterscape, limitless in its blues, greens and light. The artist challenges the viewer to shift their perception of the work by placing a red bowl of water in the foreground. Confronted by this contained space, we now experience the painting through a different lens: Half-full or half-empty, lush or illusory.
Literature:
Tom Hopkins: New Paintings, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Montreal, 1997, page 4, the artist in conversation with Guido Molinari.
Provenance:
Private Collection, Montreal